120 LECTURE IX. 



have been recorded of persons having lost an 

 arm or a leg, which has been taken off by these 

 monsters. 



The alligator of North America buries itself at 

 the bottom of marshes till the spring sets in, and 

 it is then in such a state of torpor that slices may 

 be cut from the animal without arousing it. On 

 the other hand, the alligator revels in the moist 

 heat of Florida, and is formidable, both in num- 

 bers and size, at a mineral spring near the Mus- 

 quito River, where the water, on issuing from the 

 earth, is not only nearly boiling, but is strongly 

 impregnated with copper and vitriol. 



I will now talk to you about that poor, perse- 

 cuted, but harmless and useful reptile, the toad, 

 and I hope to rescue it from some part of that 

 ill-treatment it so constantly meets with. It is 

 a timid creature, perfectly inoffensive, and, as I 

 know, will attach itself to those who show it 

 kindness. Mr. Bell tells us that he had a large 

 one that would sit on one of his hands and eat 

 from the other. A true lover of Nature, in that 

 simplicity and singleness of heart which always 

 belong to that character, will find in the toad 

 much to admire, although it must be con- 

 fessed it has an ugly appearance. It is of 



